


Safe At Last

by AnonKnight (orphan_account)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU within an AU, Alternate Universe - Baby Blasters, Angst, Experiment Trio! AU, Gaster Blasters, Gaster is 17, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, Medical Experimentation, OC is plot important but not a super super main character, Sans is 11, dad!grillby, mentions of child abuse, papyrus is 5, theyre just the royal scientist cus gaster's not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-13 05:18:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5696473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/AnonKnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based off of the Experiment Trio! AU within the Baby Blasters! AU. An AU within an AU!</p><p>After seventeen long years of experimentation, Gaster had had enough. It wasn't right for his two little brothers to grow up like this. After a long thought out plan, he escaped the lab and brought his brothers with him. Now all they need is to find a home... and bring on justice on the man at fault for for their trauma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Through The Cold And Snow

**Author's Note:**

> I'm looking for a beta reader! PM me if you're interested.  
> I don't write often (I prefer drawing, myself), so forgive me if I'm a bit rusty. Updates will likely be rather infrequent, depending on when I feel like writing. Sorry!

You trudged through the snow, torn and ragged clothes hanging from your body. The cracks on your face stung slightly, but you ignored it. You were used to pain. Behind you, your two younger brothers followed, the older carrying the youngest on his back. They looked tired, cold, and hungry, and so were you, but you couldn't stop yet. You had to get your brothers to safety. 

Eventually, you came to a town. At least, you thought it was a town. You'd heard them mentioned before, but this was your first time seeing one. Behind you, your youngest brother squeaked. He was looking up at the buildings in awe. You smiled slightly. They must have seemed so big to him. The older brother looked fascinated too. 

You flicked your tail in signal that they had to keep moving. You had to find somewhere safe for them. Somewhere warm, with food and shelter. You considered bringing them to one of the buildings, 'houses', but you realized that monsters probably lived in those. They wouldn't like it if a mangled creature showed up with its two starved brothers asking for food and shelter. Just the mere sight of you would likely be enough to scare them away.

Eventually, you came to a place that was just a little bigger than the houses. There was a sign above the door, but you didn't recognize the word. A name, maybe. You figured that was most likely. You couldn't just leave your brothers there, but an alleyway next to the building came to your attention. You led your brothers down there, and found a structure made of metal, smaller than the buildings but large enough to hold the three of you, as long as you stayed in your blaster form. You weren't sure what it was, but you were desperate. It would have to do. 

You signaled for them to wait there as you shifted into a bipedal form. You checked over the metal structure for any kind of entrance, before discovering that it opened at the top. Like a lid. Inside were black bags, as well as various other bits and bobs that you didn't recognize. The smell coming from it was putrid, and you cringed. Still, it was better than nothing.  
You lifted the youngest brother into the metal structure, despite his squeak of protest at the smell.  
'It's better than nothing.' You signed in your own made up language. You couldn't speak very well, thanks to damaged vocal chords, so a series of signals with your hands had to do. Your brothers understood it, and that was all that mattered. Your brother didn't complain again, so you bent down to pick up your other brother, before shifting back into your four-legged form and climbing in to join them, with some effort. You decided against closing the lid, in case you couldn't get back out again afterwards, but you could pull some of the waste over yourselves for a little bit of extra warmth. There was still no food, but this was better than nothing. Perhaps you could look in the black bags later.

For now, all three of you needed to rest.


	2. Man Of Flames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait to write more of this but I'm having too much fun
> 
> Thanks for the kudos on the first chapter. It means a lot to me.

_Sans' POV_

You blinked awake as your little brother kicked you in his sleep. Sometime during the night you had shifted into your bipedal form, it seemed, making it rather cramped. You turned to your brother. He was still a blaster, sleeping peacefully with the occasional twitch of his tail. You turned the other way to look at your older brother. He wasn't there. You looked behind you. He wasn't there, either.

Panic set in. Your older brother was missing. He could be hurt- he already _was_ hurt-, or lost, or... or....

You shook your head. No. He was fine. You just needed to find him, that was all. You nudged your younger brother awake, earning a chirp of complaint.

"C'mon, Paps. We gotta go find Gaster." You told him as calmly as you could. Papyrus looked confused for a moment, and looked around the area. A look of alarm spread across his face as he shifted from his blaster form.

"Where'd he go?!" Papyrus asked. You sighed. "I don't know." You'd figure out where to look in a minute. Gaster would have left footprints in the 'snow', so you could follow those. You just had to get you and Papyrus out of the metal structure.

Which proved to be a problem, as the lid was closed. And you weren't strong enough to open it. Unless...

You closed your eyes and focused. The area glowed blue. Slowly, you opened your eyes and lifted your hand. A few of the flimsy black bags shifted some, but otherwise nothing happened. Damn. You kicked the wall in frustration, resulting in a loud clanging sound that startled Papyrus.

"Sorry..." you muttered.

Maybe Gaster would come back, safe and sound. Maybe it'd be alright. You just had to wait. So you did. Minutes passed, which soon turned into hours.

But nobody came.

Papyrus was getting anxious. The pair of you were hungry, _starving,_ by the time the lid opened again. You had no idea how long you had been waiting, but when the lid opened you let out a sigh of relief.

"Where had yo...." Your brother's voice trailed off, and he backed into a corner, shifting into his blaster form again to make himself as small as possible. You turned to look up at whoever had opened the lid.

You had no idea who that was, but they certainly were not Gaster. A man made entirely of fire stood above you, one of those black bags in one hand and the lid to the metal container in the other. He looked rather confused.

You shifted into your blaster form and stood in front of Papyrus, growling at the stranger. The fire-man put the bag on the floor and lifted his now free hand in front of him.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you." The fire-man said. ' _Yeah, right.'_ you growled. It seemed the fire-man couldn't understand you in your blaster form. Good to know.

Fire-man didn't falter. "Where are your parents? Are you hungry?" he asked. ...Parents? What were they? Well, whatever they were, you were pretty sure you didn't have any. You didn't answer. Fire-man sighed and propped the metal container lid up against a wall.

"Do you want something to eat?" He asked. Papyrus looked over the edge of the container curiously. You pushed him away gently.

"You don't have to be afraid, you know." Fire-man said. "This isn't a trick."

_'Maybe he means it?'_ Papyrus said tentatively. You glance at your brother briefly, before turning your eyes back to the fire-man. You don't answer.

_'If he wanted to hurt us wouldn't he have done it by now..?'_ Papyrus continued. _'And I'm hungry.'_

You mull it over for a moment. Well, you supposed Paps had a point. But it was possible he was going to feed them poison, or hurt them after he had them inside, or- You were interrupted by a whine.

_'C'mon, please?'_ Papyrus begs. You sigh.

_'Fine. But right afterwards we're looking for Gaster.'_

Papyrus nodded, before peering over the edge of the metal thing again and, with some effort involved, climbed over. He landed in the snow with a soft thud. You worried for a moment he had hurt himself, but he stood back up and shifted into his two-legged form, entirely unharmed. Both him and the fire-man looked at you expectantly. Reluctantly, you followed.

"Come on, let's get you both some food." Fire-man said, walking out of the alley and gesturing for the pair to follow.

The man led them into a building with a sign above the door. You vaguely remembered passing it the evening before, when you had been with Gaster. The inside of the building was warm. There were tables everywhere, with lots of chairs around them. At the back of the room, there was a counter, with some more chairs in front of it, and a shelf with a bunch of bottles behind it.  

"Sit down wherever you like." The fire-man said, going through a door at the back. Papyrus climbed onto the nearest chair, and you sat next to him.  After a short while, the man came back, a plate in each hand. On each plate was a round thing that looked kind of like foam, but not really, and then a layer of a brown, round thing, then another layer of foam-like stuff. He put a plate in front of you, and then the other in front of Papyrus.

"What're these?" Papyrus asked. The flame-man frowned.

"They're called burgers. It's food." He said.

"How do we know its safe to eat?" You ask.

"Don't worry." Fire-man said. "I have no intention of hurting you two."

Just his word was enough for Papyrus, who immediately attacked his burger before you could stop him. You glanced at your own meal, and then at fire-man.

"Do you want me to prove it?" He asked. You nod. The fire-man picks up your burger and takes a small bite, before giving it back to you. "See? It's safe to eat."

You glance back at the burger. Well, he wouldn't have taken any had it not been okay. You hesitate for a moment, and then decide to go ahead and eat. By that point, Papyrus had finished his own meal.

"Thank you!" He said enthusiastically.

"You're welcome." Fire-man said. "Do you two have names..?"

Papyrus put a hand on his chest. "Papyrus!" He announced, before pointing at you. "Sans!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you both." Fire-man replied. "My name is Grillby."


	3. I'm Sorry That We Can't Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always figured they'd know what things like fridges and things were because the scientists would keep lab samples and things in them, but not ovens or couches or anything because there's no reason for there to be any of those in a lab. At least, not the bits of the lab Sans, Pap, and Gaster would have seen.

_Sans' POV_

The fire-man, Grillby, asked a lot of questions. "Are you hurt?", "Where do you live?", "Where are your parents?", and things like that. Sometimes, Pap answered. Sometimes you answered. Most of the time, neither of you had an answer. You didn't like the expression Grillby wore when you couldn't answer his questions. He didn't look happy, but he wasn't mad either. He was almost sad, but not quite. Pity, maybe. You'd gotten looks of pity from a lot of people recently. It was a little annoying. So were his questions. He shouldn't be prying into your business. You didn't even know the guy.

Papyrus liked him though. Maybe it was because he gave you both food, and got you out of the snow. Maybe it was just because Papyrus liked everyone. Except for the scientist, but you couldn't blame him for that. The scientist was an awful person.

At some point, Papyrus had convinced you to stay the night. You didn't want to, but it was getting too dark to really see anyting outside anyway, and you were still rather tired. So Grillby took the pair of you into the back room, which turned out to be where he lived, and let you sleep on a big, soft, chair-thing. He called it a "couch".

You had no idea how long you'd slept for, but when you woke up it was bright out. Papyrus was nudging you in the side.

"C'mon, Sans! Food!" He whined, tugging your arm. You sighed and got up, following him into the next room. This room was tiled, just like the lab, and had counters and a table and a fridge, just like the lab. There were other things, too, but you didn't know what they were. You didnt like the look of them though. They had knobs and buttons and switches, just like more of the lab machinery. Just being in the room made you uncomfortable. Grillby was standing over one of the things with the knobs, but you couldn't see what he was doing.

Papyrus didn't seem to mind too much, though. He ran over to the table and took a seat, looking at you expectantly. Reluctantly, you joined him.

"We shouldn't be taking food from this guy, Pap." You mutter to your brother. "We hardly know him. He could be trying to kill us."

"But he would have done it last night if he was!" Papyrus muttered back.

"....He might have a reason to do it today instead."

"But he's nice!"

"Pap, he could be fa-" Your sentence was interrupted by Grillby.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked. You turned around to look at him. He was holding two plates, this time with small stacks of thin round things with liquid poured over them. You wondered how long he had been standing behind you and how much of your conversation he had heard.

"What're those?" Papyrus asked as he put the plates, as well as some forks, in front of you both.

"Pancakes." Grillby answered, the equivalent of a patient smile on his face. Papyrus seems pleased with the answer and immediately digs in, not even bothering to use the forks and getting the sticky stuff all over his fingers. He didn't seem to mind, though.

You sighed. You shouldn't eat it. It could be dangerous. But you had no idea when you were going to get to eat again, and if it was poisoned... well, you didn't want to think about that. So you ate, keeping your eyes on Grillby. About halfway through your meal, he spoke up.

"Forgive me boys, but I have to open up now. Will you be alright by yourself?" He asked. You nodded. You'd be a lot better off without strangers hanging around, honestly. Grillby also nodded. "Alright. If you need anything, come get me. I'll be in the front."

And with that, the man walked away. You finished your meal and then turned to look at Papyrus, who was wiping his fingers on his trousers.

"You're way too quick to trust people, Paps." You comment. "Come on, we're leaving. We need to find Gaster before it's too late."

Papyrus opened his mouth to complain, but closed it again as you mentioned Gaster. Instead, he nodded. He looked rather disappointed, but he seemed to realize you couldn't stay forever. After all you had a missing, injured, and possibly worried older brother to find.

"...Can we come back when we find him?" Papyrus asked.

"I dunno, Paps. We might not be welcome anymore, or maybe Gaster's found someplace else. And we still don't know if he's a good guy or not." You tell him. He doesn't say anything, but gets up.

"How're we going to get out?" He asked. You point at a door next to the fridge.

"If we're lucky, it's unlocked." You tell him.

As it turned out, you were lucky. You shivered as the cold hit once again, but continued on, with Papyrus following. You went around to the front of the building, ducking under the windows in case Grillby was there, and into the alley with the big metal thing. You scanned the ground for footprints, but apparently your luck was short-lived as overnight, the snow had filled in any footprints that had been left. Of course. You desperately searched for any indication of where Gaster may have gone, but there was nothing. So you picked a random direction and went with it, despite Papyrus's occasional complaints due to being cold, or hungry, or tired.

 You walked for hours without break. At one point you had shifted into your blaster form to start carrying your little brother on your back, who had managed to fall asleep a while ago. It was getting dark again, and you were tired, so tired, but you couldn't stop. You had to find your brother, before the scientist did.

Eventually, though, your tiredness and the cold caught up to you, and you collapsed in the snow.


	4. I Must Ask Some Questions, I Hope You Don't Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fun bit of trivia-  
> In this fic, Gaster isn't a skeleton. :O  
> I never really saw him as particularly skeletal, even though a lot of the fandom seems to think he is. he just... doesn't look like one to me. So in this fic, he's not. Perhaps the scientist didn't like the design and switched it to the skeletons when they made Sans. He doesn't have flesh, either, though. Its hard to explain? IDK. Use your imagination. or totally disregard this and imagine him as skeletal anyway, your choice.

When you came to, you were on the couch at Grillby's again. Papyrus ran over to you as soon as he noticed, pulling you into a tight hug. This lasted for a short while, before he reluctantly let go and ran into the next room- the one with the counters and the fridge. He came back just a few seconds later, dragging Grillby by the arm. You tensed.

"See?! He's up, he's up!!" Papyrus was shouting. Grillby nodded.

"Did you sleep well?" Grillby asked. Well. You did, but that wasn't particularly important.

"What are we doing here?" You asked, a hint of aggression in your voice.

"Someone found you two in the woods, and apparently Papyrus told them to bring you here. So they did." He answered calmly. "Your brother was very worried about you. You were out for over twelve hours. He didn't sleep."

You turned to glance at Papyrus. You hadn't noticed before, but he did look very tired. You felt a pang of guilt for worrying your brother so much. You said nothing.

"Are you hungry? I just finished making a pot of spaghetti, if you want any." Grillby said. You paused for a minute, before nodding slowly. You were beginning to doubt that the fire-monster was going to hurt your or Papyrus. After two meals, and plenty of times when you were asleep or vulnerable, he probably would have done something by now. Still, you couldn't fully trust him. You couldn't stay forever. Besides... Gaster was still out there. Knowing him, he was probably worried. He probably hadn't slept or eaten since you last saw him either. What if he starved to death? What if he passed out and froze? What if-

Papyrus prodded you, pulling you from your thoughts. He smiled at you (not that he could do anything else. Your faces were permanantly stuck in a grin.), and pointed to the fridge-room. You got yourself up and went in to sit at the table, Papyrus following. You hadn't noticed him leave, but Grillby was already in the room pouring what appeared to be a lot of  pieces of wet string or rope with red stuff on it into bowls. You guessed that was spaghetti.

 As with the last couple of times, Grillby put the food onto the table and Papyrus started shoving it in his mouth without a second thought. The red stuff covered his hands and face and clothes, making him absolutely filthy. You chuckled a bit at that, before working on your own food.

Once you were done, Grillby wiped Papyrus's hands and face off with a damp cloth and sent him to go take a nap. You got up to join him, but Grillby put a hand on your shoulder before you left the room.

"I need to talk to you." He said. "Take a seat." Oh. He was going to want something, wasn't he? But you didn't have anything. Just the clothes on your back. Maybe he'd send you and Papyrus away. You could deal with that. You still needed to find Gaster, after all. You sat back down, and Grillby sat across from you.

"Sans. I need to ask you some questions. And if you don't want to answer any of them, I completely understand. You don't have to."

...Just questions? You could live with that. You nod.

"Alright." Grillby paused, as if trying to find the right words. "...Do you and Papyrus have a home?"

Oh. _These_ kinds of questions. Still, you saw no point in avoiding them. You shook your head. Grillby nodded solemnly.

"...Earlier, while you were still asleep, I noticed a... mark... on your arm." He said. You glanced down at your left arm. You had a barcode there. So what? Was that not a normal thing..? You shrugged. You didn't think that was such a big deal.

"So I looked at Papyrus, and he has one too. Now.... most monsters don't have those.  Nor do they change shape." Grillby pointed out. Well, that was news to you. Still, you said nothing.

"...Sans. Has someone been hurting you and Papyrus? Because if they have, I need to tell the Royal Guard. They can punish whoever it was."

You shifted slightly, looking away once more. He didn't need to know these things. He was a stranger. So you told him nothing. The pair of you sat in silence for a moment, but just as you went to get up, Grillby spoke once more.

"If you'd like, you and your brother can stay with me." He offered. You paused. This guy had known you for what, two days? And he was already offering to let you share his home. Yeah, that was suspicious. Besides, you had to find Gaster. That was your number one priority. So you shook your head.

"I have something I need to do." You muttered. Grillby sighed.

"Alright. Just remember, if you ever need food, or a place to sleep, or anything at all, you're welcome here." And with that, he got up and walked away. Shortly after, you went into the next room and laid down next to Papyrus for a nap.

When you got up again, Papyrus insisted on staying to eat. This time, Grillby made 'sandwiches', which were kind  of like the burgers, only not quite as big and with different things in the middle. They were alright, but you didn't like the leafy bits much. After that, Grillby had to go somewere, and Papyrus convinced you to play with him for a little while, so you spent some time chasing him around the couch-room. You stopped when Grillby called the two of you back into the fridge-room.

"Sans, Papyrus, will you come here for a minute?" The two of you stopped in your tracks, before Papyrus dashed into the fridge-room. You followed him. Grillby stood in the middle of the floor, holding a bag.

"If you two are going back out into the cold, you're going to need better clothes than those." He said. You looked down at your clothes. The pair of you were wearing hospital gowns, which had gotten torn and ragged with the recent turn of events. Grillby reached into the bag an held up some nicer clothes. "So I bought you these."

He handed you a t-shirt, some trousers, and a blue jacket, before giving Papyrus some similar clothes, in orange. You narrowed your eyes.

"And what do you want in return?" You asked.

"All I want is for you to put them on before you go." he replied. You looked back down at the clothes in your hands. You were getting these... for free? That couldn't be right. There was no way. You didn't just get things or free. That's not how it worked. He was going to ask for them back later, surely. That must have been it. So, you'd better enjoy it while it lasted. 

You spent the night at Grillby's, and after breakfast, you and Papyrus headed back out to look for Gaster.

\-------------

_You ran. You ran and you ran and you didn't stop. You had to find them. You couldn't let them get found and sent back to the lab. They didn't deserve that._

_You shouldn't have left them alone for so long. You didn't mean to. You were just looking for food, and then you got lost. The snow filled in your footprints and the whole forest looked the same to you. And when you came back, they were gone. There was no trace of them there anymore. What if someone hurt them? What if they sent them back to the scientist? What if the scientist had found them themself?_

_Maybe they'd gone looking for you. Maybe they'd gotten lost in the woods. Maybe they were still out there, scared and cold and hungry, looking for you. There were just so many possibilities, and none of them ended well._

_You have no idea how much time you spent looking for them before a voice made you stop dead in your tracks._

_"I've been looking all over for you, 01."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On another note, I just realized I'm going to have to come up with an OC to be the scientist since Gaster is a good guy... oh god, this is going to be fun


End file.
